Three of this week's six made the plays that decided their games in the last four minutes: Kenneth Walker III's two touchdowns at Las Vegas, Byron Young's two sacks on Philadelphia's final drive and Andre Szmyt's 56-yarder with 10 seconds left on Thursday night. Foyesade Oluokun intercepted Joe Burrow at the Jacksonville 10 in a five-point game, Tetairoa McMillan caught 14 passes for 192 yards and two touchdowns against Detroit, and Will Reichard scored all 15 of Minnesota's points.
Kansas City trailed 13-10 at its own 16 with 30 seconds left in the third quarter when Walker ran 76 yards to the Las Vegas 8, and Tyquan Thornton scored two plays later. Down 19-17 with 4:53 to go, Walker scored from the 2 at 3:21. After Jack Cochrane recovered a fumbled kickoff at the Raiders' 22, he ran it in on the next snap for a 30-19 lead. The Raiders scored with 1:46 left and lost by three, so that touchdown was the margin. It came on the road against a team that was 3-0. Drake Maye also beat an unbeaten team on the road, with a 23-yard touchdown pass and a two-point throw at 1:50 in Buffalo, but he threw an interception that set up a Bills field goal and lost a fumble at the Buffalo 30.
Runner-up: Drake Maye, Patriots: 22 of 37, 269 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT; 8 rushes, 54 yards in a 29-26 win at Buffalo
The NFL went with Drake Maye, Patriots · Box score
AFC defense
Foyesade Oluokun
LB · Jacksonville Jaguars
W Jaguars 22, Bengals 17 · at Cincinnati Bengals
7 tackles (6 solo), 1 INT (5 return yards), 1 pass defensed, 1 QB hit
Jacksonville led 16-10 to start the fourth quarter when Joe Burrow hit Tee Higgins for 26 yards to the Jaguars' 10. On first-and-goal, Oluokun intercepted Burrow at the 10. Cincinnati's next drive stalled at its own 38, Jacksonville went 76 yards to go up 22-10, and the Bengals' late touchdown left them five short. He also had seven tackles, on the road against a team that came in 2-1. T.J. Watt had the bigger stat line, with a sack, two tackles for loss and a strip he recovered himself, but Pittsburgh lost at Cleveland. Craig Woodson and Xavier Nwankpa sealed road wins at Buffalo and Las Vegas with late interceptions, but each had three tackles otherwise.
Runner-up: T.J. Watt, Steelers: 4 tackles, 1 sack, 2 TFL, 2 QB hits and a forced fumble he recovered in a 27-24 loss at Cleveland
The NFL went with Foye Oluokun, Jaguars · Box score
AFC special teams
Andre Szmyt
K · Cleveland Browns
W Browns 27, Steelers 24 · vs Pittsburgh Steelers
2 of 2 field goals (44 and 56 yards), 3 of 3 extra points, 9 points
Pittsburgh tied it 24-24 on a touchdown and a two-point run with 1:42 left. Cleveland got to the Pittsburgh 38, and on fourth-and-8 with 10 seconds left Szmyt made a 56-yarder to win it. His 44-yarder with 6:37 left had made it 24-16, so the Steelers needed the two-point conversion just to tie. Cam Little made field goals of 55 and 54 yards in a five-point win at Cincinnati, and Corey Bojorquez averaged 62.8 yards on four punts for Cleveland, one of them downed at the Pittsburgh 1. Neither decided a game the way Szmyt's kick did.
Runner-up: Cam Little, Jaguars: 3 of 3 field goals (55, 28 and 54 yards) and 1 of 1 extra points in a 22-17 win at Cincinnati
14 catches on 16 targets, 192 yards, 2 TD (32 and 10 yards)
His 10-yard touchdown in the third quarter broke a 16-16 tie, and Carolina led the rest of the way. His 32-yarder in the second quarter had made it 13-6, and a 21-yard catch to the Detroit 15 set up Chuba Hubbard's first-quarter touchdown. That's 14 catches for 192 yards against a Detroit team that came in 2-1. CeeDee Lamb was the closest call: 17 catches for 189 yards and the winning 12-yard touchdown with 40 seconds left on the road, but it came against a Houston team that's now 0-4, and McMillan scored twice. Kyren Williams scored both of the Rams' fourth-quarter touchdowns at Philadelphia but had 147 yards from scrimmage.
Runner-up: CeeDee Lamb, Cowboys: 17 catches on 21 targets, 189 yards, 1 TD, the winner with 40 seconds left, in a 34-30 win at Houston
The Rams went ahead 24-20 with 1:10 left, and Young ended Philadelphia's answer. On first down from the Eagles' 27 he sacked Jalen Hurts for a 7-yard loss, and on third-and-17 he strip-sacked Hurts for 8 more. Philadelphia recovered at its 12, but it was fourth-and-25, and the last pass fell incomplete. He split a sack with Kamren Kinchens in the first half, for 2.5 on the road against a team that came in 2-1. Deonte Banks's 98-yard interception return on the last play against Arizona was the closest call. It came on fourth-and-goal from the 4 and decided the game, but his own pass interference penalty on third down had put the Cardinals there, and it came at home against a 1-2 team.
Runner-up: Deonte Banks, Giants: 4 tackles, 4 passes defensed and a 98-yard interception return for a touchdown on the final play of a 36-24 win over Arizona
The NFL went with Deonte Banks, Giants · Box score
NFC special teams
Will Reichard
K · Minnesota Vikings
W Vikings 15, Dolphins 10 · vs Miami Dolphins
5 of 5 field goals (47, 50, 33, 41 and 29 yards), 15 points
He scored all 15 of Minnesota's points in a five-point win. The 33-yarder on the last play of the first half made it 9-0. After Miami pulled within 12-10 on a touchdown with 11 seconds left in the third quarter, his 29-yarder with 6:41 to go made it 15-10, so the Dolphins needed a touchdown. It was at home against a team that came in 0-3. Dominic Zvada made three field goals for the Giants, including a 52-yarder with 2:11 left that put Arizona in the same spot, and Jake Bates went 4 for 4 with a 54-yarder in Detroit's loss at Carolina. Reichard made five, and his team didn't score any other way.
Runner-up: Dominic Zvada, Giants: 3 of 3 field goals (39, 50 and 52 yards) and 1 of 1 extra points in a 36-24 win over Arizona
One player per slot, judged the way the power rankings judge teams: what happened on the field, against whom and where. Production counts, and so does the opponent. A big game against a good defense or on the road beats the same numbers at home against a bad one, and a play that decided the game beats one that padded a lead. A great game in a loss can still win if nothing else comes close.
NFL awards follow the league's format, AFC and NFC, and go up on Tuesday morning, a day before the league names its own. College awards are national and go up on Sunday morning. Where there's an official pick (the NFL's, or Walter Camp's for college offense and defense), it's listed under ours, agree or not.
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